A key characteristic that may be found in every free economy is competition, and therein lies the importance of an effective marketing strategy. Marketing takes many forms and has evolved over the years in terms of form and delivery in direct response to competition and fluid consumer behaviors. Thus, corporations expend great effort and expenditure in developing and modifying effective marketing strategies in light of perpetual changes occurring within the realms of competition, economy, technological advance, political climate, consumer behavior, and/or the like. These are but a few of the variables influencing the success or failure of a marketing strategy.
Marketing is an expensive proposition; however, without it, a business or corporation has little hope of survival, especially in an era of growing consumer options. Ensuring that marketing budgets are directed toward activities that will provide the largest return at the lowest cost is a vital exercise among corporations. Countless books and guides have been published over the years by authors who believe that they possess the magic bullet in marketing strategy. However, it is widely understood that what is effective strategy today, may be a marketing bust tomorrow. Therefore, marketers have adopted various methods to attempt to gauge and forecast the commerce climate, demographic shifts, and behavioral trends.
Computing technologies have increased the marketer's ability to track many marketing related variables and to construct models in order to simulate the outcome of various marketing strategies or campaigns. In addition to the countless proprietary software tools that have been developed internally, a number of software companies have produced a number of “off-the-shelf” solutions that enable a marketer to better develop a sound marketing strategy. These tools are generally built on recognized strategic marketing practices that have been adapted to the current business environment and the tools accept various inputs in order to model marketing scenarios.
Regardless of the modeling tool, the complexities of managing vast libraries of models and model variables can hinder the utilization of models and stretch computing resources. In an environment where multiple users develop models, a transparency is lacking which enables marketers to view the penetration, utilization, and distribution of models. This problem leads to less than efficient and less than effective use of models. Moreover, because models often include interdependencies with other models, clearing out unused, redundant, or outdated models becomes difficult. If a model that appears to not have been used for a period of time is deleted, it may affect other models that were dependent on the deleted model. Thus, there is a need for a system and method for managing models in a transparent environment, wherein marketers may view utilization statistics for models and variables. Further, there is a need for tools to empower marketers to build dynamic queries and generate customized reports on customer behavior and performance. These empowerment tools should include data utilization tools to enable the marketer to zoom in and zoom out of complex model hierarchies and relationships.